What is the Difference Between Needs and Wants in Marketing?

For the last 10 years I have primarily taught within the marketing program at North Hennepin Community College. Each semester at least one, but usually two, of my five classes have been taught completely online. Even in the beginning I felt that my classes were well-organized, interactive, and created a synergistic learning experience for my students. However, I have always found it difficult to completely replicate the energy I provide in the classroom in a virtual learning environment.

Over the last several years I have recorded the audio of all of my in-class lectures over PowerPoint using Adobe Presenter. Even though I received positive feedback from students about these presentations, the lack of non-verbal communication made these presentations relatively flat. Earlier this semester we learned that instructors would need to transition from Adobe Presenter to another mode of delivery, so I am taking this opportunity to go in a much different direction.

I will be creating mini YouTube marketing lectures that are not based on specific chapters, but areas that I have found students find difficult to understand without additional clarification. I do not plan to lock these videos down or make them private, so I realize I’m opening myself up to much broader public dialogue and/or criticism. However, this is now the world we live in and this process aligns directly with the content I teach. I plan to document the ups and downs of this process here.

Here’s my first attempt at creating a mini marketing lesson on the difference between needs and wants in marketing. I felt this would be a relatively straight-forward area in which to begin. However, even this short presentation required quite a bit of planning, a few different takes, and the pain of witnessing strange mannerisms over and over as I produced the final clip. I look forward to improving over time and learning a new skill through this process.